remove whitespace python regex code example

Example 1: python remove whitespace from start of string

'     hello world!    '.strip()
'hello world!'


'     hello world!    '.lstrip()
'hello world!    '

'     hello world!    '.rstrip()
'    hello world!'

Example 2: regular expression to remove space python

r = re.compile(r"^\s+", re.MULTILINE)
r.sub("", "a\n b\n c") # "a\nb\nc"

# or without compiling (only possible for Python 2.7+ because the flags option
# didn't exist in earlier versions of re.sub)

re.sub(r"^\s+", "", "a\n b\n c", flags = re.MULTILINE)

# but mind that \s includes newlines:
r.sub("", "a\n\n\n\n b\n c") # "a\nb\nc"